Travertine Patio Process

With the earthquake, hurricane, tornado and financial turbulence of August behind us, it is time to share photos of a recent project of ours strong enough to survive them ALL! We renovated this worn and damaged terrazzo terrace with beautiful durable Travertine tiles. Travertine is used to clad the Coliseum in Rome and many of New York and Washington DC's most famous landmark buildings. Martin Shaw, LLC Landscape Design & Construction loves working with natural stone and advocate it's use when ever possible but it was especially appropriate for this project. 

As detailed in a recent post about Travertine, it is an incredible material; it has twice the strength of concrete, is able to withstand decades of exposure, yet it's porous surface is an excellent insulator keeping it cool even in full sun and  providing a non-slip surface. This last attribute was especially important to these clients as the tiles previously used on the patio surface were uncomfortably slippery. Another reason they chose this material is because of the beautiful range of colors which complimented the existing stone on their home. A simple grid pattern was used to complimented the modern architecture. Travertine can be used in wet or dry laid applications, but because of the existing situation, the stone here was wet laid, grouted and sealed to protect and enhance it.

This patio was wet-laid, grouted and then sealed to protect and enhance the rich colors of the stone.

Here you can see the existing patio prior to our work. It was capped with Terrazzo which had aged and cracked in several spots.

Step One: We removed the existing surface.

 Step Two: We filled the vacant areas with compacted crushed stone and laid a grid of re-bar for strength.

Step Three: Concrete is being brought in to replace the worn surface.

Step Four: The edges are formed and concrete is being troweled to form a smooth surface to adhere the Travertine tiles.

 Step Five: The Travertine is unloaded, staged and ready for installation.

Step Six: The tiles are laid and adhered while the bull nose pieces are each carefully cut to form the soft sweeping curves of the edge.

Step Seven: Grout is spread over the tiles to fill the pores and joints.

 Step Eight: The sealing process has begun, here you can see how the sealant enhances the color of the treated section.

 Travertine tiles were a natural choice to compliment the existing stonework and enhance the views from this home.

 Bull nose Travertine coping creates a smooth edge to the patio.

The sweeping curves of the patio stand in contrast to the linear architecture of the modern home.